The story and return of a unique discovery in Italy: a Vivarium Probably annexed to a villa in the first century AD A new element to read the history of the lagoon “before Venice” in the Roman imperial era
Studying the lagoon to know and understand nature and biodiversity, but also the multi -culture relationship between man and this particular environment, where cities and ecosystem coexist in a delicate balance. This, in particular, the thread of the activities of Museum of Natural History of Venice Giancarlo Ligabuewhich among the most important events of 2025 hosts the return of the research project carried out by the Ca ‘Foscari Venice University: the discovery of a particular archaeological site submerged in the Venice Lagoon, in Lio Piccolo, Cavallino-Treporti.
It is here that underwater stratigraphic investigations started in 2021 they brought to light a brick tank and wooden tables containing about 300 oysters shells: A structure datable to the first century AD. and interpreted as an ancient Ostriarium: a space intended for the maintenance of these mollusks in life before their consumption. To 
Today, a unique discovery in Italy, which finds a single comparison known in the Narbonne lagoon, in France.
Part of these significant finds, finds, images, videos of underwater excavation operations and research activities, as well as a
three -dimensional model of the archaeological site lagoon will be exhibited at Natural History Museum from April 16 to November 2, 2025: an installation that returns the first results of this research project, providing further information on the inhabitants of the lagoon in the Roman imperial era and which, not least, highlights the importance of an interdisciplinary scientific research work that involved archaeologists, geologists, biologists, to return to the public the results of this investigation and invite to discovery and knowledge of the wealth of the lagoon.
A discovery for the history of the Venice Lagoon
The archaeological site of Lio Piccolo, reported in 1988 by Ernesto Canal Which, first, had hypothesized to see the remains of a Roman villa, is located along the southern shore of Canale Rigà. About 300 common oyster shells were found on the bottom of the tank (Ostrea Edulis), especially gradually disappeared from the lagoon in the second half of the nineteenth century, and some shells of other bivalves, such as the Canestrelli. The bulkheads, as happened in the fishing at sea of Roman age, probably allowed the insulation between the different species. The derocronological analyzes and the dating to carbon 14 of the wooden parts lead to dating the construction of the structure in the mid -1st century AD in contact with the Vivarium there are brick foundations supported by a forest of poles in
oak that had to belong to a rather important building built in the same period. Hundreds of fresco fragments, mosaic cards and some fine -sized pawns make the building interpret as a possible luxury villa, Maybe one
of those maritime villas that Martial, at the end of the 1st century AD., It places in the shores of Altino. Among the most important finds, also a precious gem that was to adorn the frame of a ring of a very comfortable person of theOstriarium.
From research to dissemination: a heritage for everyone
The museum, which preserves very important scientific collections of the largest local scientists and naturalists, still continues to study the lagoon, to understand the relationship so unique that binds the city to its territory and guarantee the continuous physical documentation of the environment and its transformations. A mission that can only be realized by collaborating with the other institutional realities that work and study the lagoon in its most diverse areas and aspects. In this perspective, the collaboration with the Department of Humanities of the Ca ‘Foscari University was born, to enhance a project of
Research that offers us unpublished information on fish activities in the lagoon at the time of imperial Rome. The Venice Lagoon is, this year more than ever, the theme that connects the museum’s activities. Through exhibitions, conferences and meetings – such as the next summer events at the Museum – the Museum of Natural History of Venice yes 
It commits to making the knowledge acquired accessible, involving not only experts in the sector, but also the wider audience. The dissemination thus becomes the last but indispensable piece, of a path that enhances the past to better understand the present and the future of the Venice lagoon.
The research project of the Ca ‘Foscari University of Venice – Department of Humanistic Studies is made possible thanks to funding from the University, the Municipality of Cavallino Treporti, the Changes Pnrr project and a PRIN PNRR project, in collaboration with the Department of Geosciences of the University of Padua (Prof. Paolo Mozzi) and the Department of Sciences of the University of Florence (Prof. Adele Bertini). The research is conducted under the concession of the Ministry of Culture – Superintendency of Archeology Fine Arts and Landscapes for the Municipality of Venice and Laguna.
Carlo Franza